


A Little Consolation

by BlameTheTemplar



Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-25
Updated: 2013-09-25
Packaged: 2017-12-27 15:04:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/980320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlameTheTemplar/pseuds/BlameTheTemplar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aveline removes Cullen's armor on the eve of Meredith's death.</p>
<p>Mostly an exercise to work off two years of the author's rust. Either way, enjoy!</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Little Consolation

     That night, she helped him out of his armor. She began with his gauntlets, traveling up his vambraces and to his pauldrons. Buckles and leather straps fell away as easily as linen under her practiced fingers. Every so often she spared him a glance, searching his tired face from all angles. The circles of exhaustion around his eyes seemed darker, the soft lines of age deeper. Silence fell heavy over them like a funeral shroud. Only when she reached his waistguard did it break.

     Cullen, with a clammy bare hand, reached out for her. His palm settled on her forearm and he forced a weak grin. His expression caused her heart to sink, but Aveline returned the grin in kind. “You did well today,” she said, soft as though the air around them might shatter.

     “Did I?” he replied, unconvinced. “So many people are dead. If I’d acted sooner—“

     “You’d have been reprimanded or worse.” She pulled his breastplate up and over his head. “You can’t blame yourself for Meredith. She was her own woman.” She repeated the process with his heavy chain, exposing a linen shirt soaked with sweat.

     “But I’d seen the signs.” He tried to reach for the legplates himself, but Aveline took a knee and swatted his hand away. He pursed his lips into a thin line.

     “You wanted to believe she had the best for Kirkwall in mind. Anyone would want to believe the same.” As the plates came off, she pushed against his thigh. He sat in a chair behind him, and she worked at his boots.

     “I suppose you’re right,” he replied with a sigh, “but what happens now?”

     “You’re the acting knight-commander. You tell me. Until another viscount is elected, you’re all we have.”

     Cullen groaned and let his head fall back. “Maker preserve me. I’d rather not think on that just now.”

     Aveline rose to her feet and motioned to his trousers. Her face took on a stern expression. “Come on. That leather’s coming off too.”

     For the first time, a genuine grin spread across his face. “You don’t need to mother me, you know.”

     “I’m not mothering you,” she replied with a mock scowl. “You think I don’t want to see my husband naked?”

     He laughed then, reaching out to pull her closer. “You’ve been spending too much time with Hawke.”

     “I do have a sense of humor,” she retorted weakly, smirking and settling sideways in his lap to steal a kiss.


End file.
